Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 62

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RXQ

Posted by Lee Barden on June 29, 1998, at 10:10:45

I graduate in june of 98' with my masters in counseling psychology. I would like to enter a Psy.D program. My professor said that in three to five years doctorate's of psychology will be able to prescribe meds, such as lithium, paxil, etc. Is this true? I really hope so.

 

Re: RXQ

Posted by Toby on August 21, 1998, at 13:30:35

In reply to RXQ, posted by Lee Barden on June 29, 1998, at 10:10:45

Depends on where you live. California is having a big debate about this as are other states. Don't bet on any particular timetable for this happening, nor for there to be country-wide acceptance of this. Each state will fight its own battle.
I wouldn't be in any hurry to start prescribing psychotropics as a PhD. SSRI's are not as benign as they seem and there are complications and situations that need medical attention that a simple course in pharmacology could not begin to address.
It's hard enough to keep up with all the new medical medications and what the new drug interactions will be with all the new psychiatric drugs as a doctor specializing in psychiatry, much less to be a PhD who has had no pharmacology training and no clinical experience with any medications except psychiatric ones. Can you imagine being on the witness stand, being sued by the family of a patient who died from an EKG abnormality after you prescribed a tricyclic which interacted with one of the new antihistamines and the family's attorney says to you, "And Dr. Barden, where did you go to medical school?" and you say, "I didn't attend medical school," and the attorney interrupts you, looks shocked, looks pointedly at the jury and says," You DIDN'T go to medical school and yet you PRESCRIBED a medication that would CLEARLY interact with Drug X according to the PDR?" Just get your checkbook out. It's not going to matter that you had a course in pharmacology, nor that your state approves the practice of prescribing by PhD's. The jury will just see that you aren't a "real doctor" (when prior to the case they probably couldn't have told you that there WAS a difference between MD's and PhD's), and believe me the attorney will hammer that home big-time, and they'll nail you for being what they consider a fraud.
Yes, I'm biased because I'm an MD but I see enough doctors who don't prescribe appropriately and it scares me to think of adding other, less well trained prescribers to the mix.


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